“She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother is so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?” Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I absolutely loved this book. This was a late add to my list but I am so happy that I found it. This book has stories that sad, happy, and ones that will make you angry. It has scientific information but not in a way that makes you want to fall asleep like you did in your college biology class. It is a book that is good from start to finish.

SPOILER ALERT

First, Rebecca Skloot is hilarious and determined and I love her. She doesn’t give up when she hits a wall with family or a roadblock in her researc but she also realizes her obsession level and how crazy a lot of what she’s doing actually is.
Second, Deb is just a mess that you love to love. She’s up and down but passionate about her family. And protective. She’s truly a southern woman who has a desire and need to learn about her mother and her life.

I was truly fascinated in learning about the past, present, and potential future of Hela cells. There are still a lot of questions to be answered but this book does a great job compliling a lot of the information into a understandable format while merging it with the stories from the Lacks family.

SUMMARY

I loved this book and highly recommend it. I hope that the movie brings the same level of emotion to the story that the book did. Either way, I can’t wait to watch it.

GRADE : A